Ontario Provincial Police in Kenora won’t face charges in a case in which a drunken man under arrest on Valentine’s Day became violent after his handcuffs were removed. He ended up with a broken nose in the scuffle that followed, prompting an automatic investigation by Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU). The incident took place after 4 a.m. Feb. 14 in Kenora. Police were called because the man wouldn’t leave a residence in the community. Extremely drunk, refused to leave “A resident had called police to remove an intoxicated and unwelcome guest -- the complainant -- who was refusing to leave,” the SIU said in its investigation report. “Officers arrived on scene and took a belligerent complainant into custody to prevent a breach of the peace. He was placed in a cruiser and transported to the OPP Kenora detachment.” The man yelled obscenities at police while he was being driven to the detachment, and continued to do so once they arrived. Police body cam footage at one point captured him yelling, “What are you going to do, beat me up?” Once at the detachment, officers removed his handcuffs at around 4:20 a.m. to do a proper search before placing him in a cell. The confrontation began once he had his hands free. “At one point, after he had been stood facing a wall to be searched, the complainant turned to the right and started to close his right hand in the direction of one of the searching officers,” said the incident narrative compiled by the SIU. “The officer standing behind the complainant … reacted by wrapping an arm around his neck, forcing him to the floor and delivering a punch in the direction of his upper body.” Once prone on the floor, the man continued to struggle and was punched several times by two police officers. “The officers wrestled control of his arms after the strikes and handcuffed them behind the back,” the SIU said. “The complainant was subsequently transported to hospital when he complained of facial pain. He was diagnosed with a broken nose.” SIU director Joseph Martino said that, based on the video and audio recordings, officers involved in the altercation acted within the limits of the law. “The complainant was intoxicated and an unwanted guest at a home, refusing to leave and causing the residents concern for their well-being,” Martino wrote. “On the arrival of officers, the complainant comported himself in an aggressive manner.” They were also within their rights to search him after his arrest, and their response after he became aggressive appeared to be lawful. “The evidence does not reasonably establish it was more than was necessary,” Martino wrote. “The takedown performed by the (OPP officer) was a legitimate tactic. The complainant had made what appeared to one of the officers to be a fist near the face of one of the searching officers ... In the context of the complainant’s combativeness to that point, the officers had cause to interpret the gesture as a threat of assault.” The broken nose was the result either of the takedown or the subsequent punches and “would not appear a disproportionate use of force in the circumstances.” “As such, there is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case,” Martino wrote. “The file is closed.” Read the full report here.
